Before the Rose Blossoms
by MercifulShe-Wolf17
Summary: Ever wondered how Abe and Janine met? Set in Europe, at the renowned school of St. Alexandra's Academy, seventeen year old Janine Hathaway trains vigorously with one goal in mind: to become the finest Guardian of her generation. Nonetheless, her goal is threatened when she crosses paths with the mysterious and alluring new student, Ibrahim Mazur, who will change her life forever.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter 1: Prologue

**S/N: No copyright infringement intended. This is my first fan-fiction and solely for entertainment purposes only based in the wonderful world of Vampire Academy created by the amazingly talented Richelle Mead, who I have been a fan of since I first read VA. Enjoy :)**

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Through the harsh rain beating against the windshield, the colossal iron gates of St. Vladimir's Academy came into view, warning me that there was exceedingly limited time to make a crucial, yet permanent, decision. Alberta, my most trusted friend since youth, and I traveled long and far to get to where we are now, but during our journey, I neglected to reassure myself of what I was doing was the right thing for both myself and the precious life of my only daughter. Rosemarie Hathaway. If it wasn't for her, and her very existence, I nor Alberta would be enduring these extreme measures.

"Yes." I replied boldly, but silently.

Abruptly, Alberta slammed on the brakes and forced the SUV into a slippery stop just before the gates. Thankfully for my fastened seat belt and the fact I had Rosemarie tightly coddled against my chest sound asleep, we were both safe and sound.

"What the hell are you doing?" I screamed at Alberta, careful not to wake Rosemarie. "Drive."

"Janine, you know you don't have to do this." She informed me for what felt like the hundredth time. "We'll go back to the airport, board the next flight back to Scotland, and forget the fact that you were willing to abandon Rose at an academy you barely have any information about."

"Her name is Rosemarie, and I wasn't going to abandon her." Glancing down at my arms, I watched adoringly as my daughter slumbered peacefully without the slightest care in the world. A world I promised to protect her from the moment I gave birth to her. "She deserves better than the life I could give her."

Alberta shook her head, criticizing my intentions. "What about Ibrahim? Could he not contribute to the well-being of his child? With the godforsaken business he conducts. Why isn't he here with you? Is he not aware of your scheme?"

I gaped at her assumptions. "How dare you speak falsely of Ibrahim, or his character? If you must know, he agreed with my plans to hand Rosemarie over into St. Vladimir's care, but not until after our long discussion about his offer to take her into his life and raise her, unlike other Moroi men who discard their children not long after they conceive them."

Appearing unchanged, even after my explanations, Alberta rested her head against the steering wheel as if trying to organize her thoughts. "How could you have deceived yourself into getting involved with a womanizing Moroi in the likes of the infamous Ibrahim Mazur? You hated him once, despised him even, during our novice days back at the academy."

She looked up at me. Anguish lingering in her eyes. "What happened to you, Janine?"

Unsure of what to say, I stared down at my daughter again, surprised to see that she had awoken. Her exquisite dark brown eyes watched me in a way that almost seemed like she was trying to figure me out. It was unusual, of course, but the longer I looked at them, it caused me to reminisce about a moment long ago. The moment I'd first laid eyes on her father, Ibrahim Mazur.

**So, what do you guys think so far? I know it isn't much, but I promise to write more for the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2: Love Not At First Sight

Chapter 2: Love Not At First Sight

**S/N: I apologize for not posting sooner, it's been a crazy month for me, but anyways, enjoy :)**

**Three Years Earlier**

I was down for the count. Never in my lifetime did I imagine myself ever saying those words of defeat, but the mistake I made only moments ago, wasn't my fault. It was the man's fault, the man wearing bold color clothes and gold earrings.

"Janine!"

The sound of name was barely audible to my ears. My head felt as if it were doing countless three sixties over and over, bringing about a nauseous sensation in the pit of my stomach. Dozens of obscure silhouettes hovered over me and they spoke hush words that I couldn't understand.

"Janine!" A familiar face pushed his way through the crowd of what I now realized were my fellow novices and kneeled beside me, supporting my head with a towel someone had handed him. "Are you hurt? Do you need me to send someone to fetch the nurse?"

"No," I replied unsteadily. "but can you tell someone to stop spinning the room? It's just beyond cruel and makes me want to puke." And then I went into unconsciousness again.

I recuperated some time later lying alone in the infirmary with an ice pack placed over my eye. To my surprise, the dizziness I experienced had mostly subsided as well as the nausea, though I remembered little of what had happened. I was still in my training clothes, which meant I came from my combat class, but how? I never made a single error when it came to training or even sparring. I was efficient. I was deadly. I was focused. What...

It was at that moment when I sat up, removing the ice pack from my eye, and caught sight of my reflection in the mirror behind the door. All the memories I thought I lost came back to me and instead of swearing up a storm, which was first reaction to things that distraught me, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The door busted open, thankfully hiding my reflection, and in came one of my closest friends. Stan Alto. "What's going on?" He asked, scanning the entire room for intruders. "Janine, say something!"

"Where is he?" I shouted, pointing at my newly discovered black eye. "Where is the man who did this to me?"

Stan dropped his protective ego and appeared confused. "What man? Celeste gave you that black eye while you two were sparring, don't you remember?"

I tried to get off the bed and failed miserably since my legs fell asleep. Luckily, Stan was there and caught me before I hit the floor. "Thanks."

"No problem." He spared me one of his rare genuine smiles, and the reason I say rare is because he never bears them to anyone else except me.

It was no secret Stan had a crush on me. Past his attractive good looks and muscular physique, his true feelings were easily shown. He loved me, adored me even, but why? How? I was a five foot, auburn-haired girl from Scotland who wanted nothing more than to become the greatest Guardian that ever lived. It was unattractive and unusual for a dhampir woman to want such a thing, especially since most of us became blood whores, or a person who engages in sex with many Moroi men in the hopes of getting bit during the ordeal and high off the endorphins found in the Moroi's saliva.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Stan and I broke apart almost immediately and turned towards the door to find our friend standing there with a mischievous grin on her face. "Alberta," Stan muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Celeste found me at lunch and told me what happened." She looked at me and her eyes grew concerned. "Yet, she didn't mention how bad the damage was." Embarrassed, I turned away from her.

"It's not that bad." Stan countered. "It makes her look...tougher."

Alberta laughed. "You would say that, lover boy."

Stan turned red. "Well, I don't see you making things any better with your insults. I thought you two were friends."

"We're best friends actually, and have been before you came around, Romeo."

"Enough!" I snapped, beginning to develop a painful migrate over their childish nonsense. It was bad enough I had a black eye to worry about. "Alberta, where's Celeste now?"

She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Considering classes just ended, my best guess would be her room. If she's not there, then try the library."

Nodding, I left the room with Alberta and Stan following right behind me. We managed to get to the lobby without trouble until we ran into Dr. Macek talking to Guardian Schoenberg or Arthur as I preferred to call him outside of the classroom. They were both surprised when they saw the three of us, especially me.

"Miss. Hathaway," Arthur exclaimed. "Dr. Macek was just telling me you were still insensible."

"Yeah, five minutes ago." Stan mumbled under his breath.

I elbowed him in his side before saying, "I was, but then I awoke only moments ago and feel fully recovered now."

"You may feel recovered, Miss. Hathaway, except your eye isn't." Dr. Macek walked over to me and grabbed my face, examining my eye. "Most of the swelling has gone down and you don't seem as hysterical as you were when Mr. Alto brought you in earlier."

"So, am I free to go?" I asked, full of hope.

She nodded. "Yes, though I took the liberty of excusing you from your combat classes for the rest of the week while you were unconscious to make sure you heal fully and avoid causing anymore trauma to your head."

My hope faded. "But...but what am I supposed to do during those hours? Sit on the bench?"

Dr. Macek gestured to Arthur. "Guardian Schoenberg will tell you everything you need to know on the way to Headmaster Dashkov's office."

Headmaster Dashkov? I gazed at Alberta and Stan for information, but all they did was shrug. What could the Headmaster possibly want with me?

Upon leaving the infirmary, I realized the night had just begun at St. Alexandra's, or at least on the nocturnal schedule it did. I must have been out cold for hours because the sun was barely shining above last I saw unlike now where it was starting to become visible on the horizon of the Transylvanian Alps, slowly turning the sky blue. The campus was almost barren; except for the few dhampir and Moroi students we passed.

When we got to the administration building, Arthur stopped us before we walked into the front door. "I'm sorry, Miss. Petrov and Mr. Alto. I'm afraid you two are only allowed up to this point. Miss. Hathaway and I must go on from here alone."

Alberta nodded in agreement, but Stan appeared ready to argue. Pulling him aside, I whispered, "I'll be alright. You and Alberta need to get back to the dorms before you two get in trouble for arriving past curfew."

"But, Janine..."

Before I realized it, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Just go."

Stan's face had turned a deep shade of red and a goofy smile had formed on his lips. He looked as if Cupid's arrow had finally hit him. Before he could say a word, Alberta took advantage of his temporary feebleness and pulled him away towards the dorms. When they disappeared, Arthur escorted me inside the building.

I felt horrible, guilty even. I shouldn't have played with Stan's feelings the way I did, knowing that deep inside I...I didn't feel the same way about him. He was my best guy friend, and even if I tried, I couldn't picture us being anything more than that.

Turning the corner, I discovered there were two unknown Guardians stationed outside Headmaster Dashkov's office. Arthur, who was as perplexed as I was, ordered me to stay behind while he approached them. They spoke in hush tones, making it hard for me to understand what they were saying, but there was one thing I did pick up on. An accent I never heard before. After a few more moments of conversing, Arthur gestured for me to advance while the Guardians opened the door for us.

"Who are they?" I asked when we entered. "Where are they...?"

I stopped walking, as well as breathing, when I looked up. Standing beside the headmaster's desk, talking to Headmaster Trenton Dashkov himself, was the man wearing bold color clothes and gold earrings.

**What do you guys think? I'll try posting the next chapter sooner than this one was.**


	3. Chapter 3: Ibrahim Mazur

Chapter 3: Ibrahim Mazur

**Enjoy :)**

"You got to be fucking kidding me?"

My foul language captured the attentions of the man and the headmaster as well as Arthur, who stepped forward.

"Headmaster Dashkov," He bowed in respect of the higher authority. "I've found and brought you Miss. Hathaway like you asked."

"I see that." He clarified smugly, assessing me with his jade green eyes. "Thank you, Guardian Schoenberg. You may go now."

Bowing once more, Arthur exited the room. Before he did, however, we exchanged glances and his eyes clearly told me, "Watch yourself". I nodded, though I didn't necessarily promise him I would keep my cool. This man, whoever he was, had given me this black eye, even if it wasn't him personally. One way or another, he was going to feel the wrath of Janine Hathaway.

"Miss. Hathaway," Headmaster Dashkov signed for me to come forward and I did. He bore a sympathetic look on his face. "I received word of your accident in one of your combat classes this morning and I feel the need to ask, how are you doing?"

Before I could answer, I snuck a quick peek at the man. He was surprisingly young, my age or a year older, and devilishly handsome. He was tall, slightly broad, dark-haired that was obviously styled to look messy, and unusually dark for a Moroi, which I was a hundred percent positive he was. Besides the gold earrings, he wore a light charcoal suit and tie with the brightest lavender button up I have ever seen underneath along with a gold chain. For the most part, he dressed similarly to a royal, but another part of me guessed he wasn't one.

"I've been through worse, so yeah, I'm alright." I looked back at the headmaster. "Is that why you summoned me here?"

"Actually, no. It's not." He glanced between me and the man. "I summoned you here because Mr. Mazur requested that you personally be his guide around school."

"Mazur? Who's Mr. Mazur?"

"I am, my dear." The man extended his hand towards me. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier in the gymnasium, where I plead guilty of stumbling upon your sparring match. It was absolutely compelling."

At least he admits he was there, I thought. Though it wasn't the apology I was looking for, it helped ease the urge to roll my eyes or punch him right then and there in front of Headmaster Dashkov. Instead, I allowed him to take a hold of my hand.

"My name's Ibrahim Mazur, though most of my friends simply refer to me as Abe." He placed a gentle kiss on my hand. "You have the utmost privilege of calling me either one."

The place he had laid his lips burned with a warm sensation and strangely caused my cheeks to flush a crimson color. No, I couldn't possibly be blushing at him, Ibrahim Mazur. I hated him, hated him with such passion that could make someone lose their sanity.

Reclaiming my hand, I plainly replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you." Though, it really wasn't.

"Please. The pleasure is all mine." His radiating smile was true and, bizarrely, quite charming. I also realized that he had the same mysterious accent as the Guardians stationed outside did.

Headmaster Dashkov, whose presence was completely oblivious to me and Ibrahim while we swapped introductions, retrieved a folder that had lain on his desk and handed it to me. "Anyways, this is all you'll need to help Mr. Mazur around the academy for the rest of the week, or at least until he gets adjusted to our campus life."

I opened it and discovered it had contained a class schedule, a map of St. Alexandra's campus, and several other miscellaneous papers that didn't seem of much importance to mention. "How exactly do you intend me to help him? More importantly, when? I have classes to attend too, sir."

As if I was nonexistent, Headmaster Dashkov walked back to his desk, pulled out a piece of paper that had the official St. Alexandra's crest printed on top, and began writing something. When he finished, he called over one of his Guardians and gave him the note, whispering some instructions in his ear, then the Guardian hurried out of the room. Ibrahim and I shared the same baffled look.

The headmaster returned to our side with a proud smile dancing upon his lips. "Well, Miss. Hathaway, I think its best you and Mr. Mazur return to your dormitories and rest. You two have a long week ahead of you."

"What do you mean by week, sir?"

His smile brightened. "Why, that paper I sent off with my Guardian, it's a note to excuse you from all of your classes for the entire week, so that way you can focus on helping Mr. Mazur."

I bit my tongue to the point where I could almost taste my blood. I was mad, beyond aggravated at what has taken place on my worst day ever. Sure, I could have handled my excuse from combat classes like a civil person, but being excused from all my classes, it wasn't fair. I should be focusing on my studies, as well as my training when I healed; not babysitting a foreign exchange student from god knows what country. Before I could express my opinion openly, Arthur came back into the room along with who I now knew were Ibrahim's Guardians and escorted us out.

Once we were out of the administration building, Arthur had the guts to ask me, "What happened? Are you in trouble with Headmaster Dashkov?"

I watched Ibrahim walking gallantly a few feet away from us chatting freely with his Guardians, who protectively surrounded him like a bulletproof shield. "No, it's much worse than that."

He appeared confused, but didn't respond after that and remained silent the rest of the walk. We arrived to the secondary school building a few minutes later which occupied the junior high and high school novice dorms. Alike the rest of the academy, it had a Victorian-like architecture with statues of saints and strange gargoyles lining the roof. Most said it was scare off bad spirits, but to me, it just made the building themselves seem more fascinating and ancient.

"Well, here we are." An earnest smile appeared on Arthur's lips. "Goodnight, Miss. Hathaway. I trust you'll sleep comfortably."

I bared a humorous smile. "After today, I'm not so sure I will."

"Sure you will." Turning around, I discovered Ibrahim and his Guardians standing right behind me. I thought they had gone their separate ways long ago to the Moroi dorms.

Ibrahim whispered something to his Guardians, who nodded and walked away, though not too far from their charge. He looked at Arthur. "Do you mind if Miss. Hathaway and I converse alone for a moment?"

Unsure, Arthur looked off into the distance and towards the rising sun for guidance. "For a couple minutes. Moroi aren't allowed out when the sun is shining at its brightest." And like that he gave us privacy.

I kept my gaze lowered as I looked at him again. "What do you want?"

"I want to apologize again." He bore an honest, sympathetic look on his face. "I had no knowledge of Headmaster Dashkov's intentions. I expected little accommodations when I came here."

"With the amount of money you handed him?" I nearly laughed at him miscalculations. "I'm afraid you've been mistaken, Mr. Mazur."

He seemed stunned. "How did you know about that?"

"I'm a dhampir training to be a Guardian. I've been taught to notice things others like Moroi wouldn't do a double take on," I said as if it were obvious. "Especially a package that had a few hundred Lei sticking out on the headmaster's desk."

Rather than being mad at my discovery, Ibrahim appeared impressed. "You're quite something, Miss. Hathaway. Something I failed to acknowledge when I saw you in the gymnasium."

Again, I felt my cheeks grow warm. "My name is Janine. Only the higher authority can call me Miss. Hathaway."

Just then Arthur and Ibrahim's Guardians reappeared. "Time's up." Arthur said, opening the door for me.

Ibrahim nodded and looked back to me. "Well then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"I guess you will." I giggled.

He smiled. "Have a good night, Janine."

Maybe I will, I thought with a smile. "Goodnight, Abe."

**What do you guys think? I plan on writing the next chapter in Abe's POV, but I'll see how it goes.**


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